The day was bright and cheerful, but Rebecca was far too busy drowning in her own thoughts to think of the shining sun as anything more than a nuisance. Laying with her back against a patch of grass, she pretended to nod along with whatever was being said to her.
Kanima-werewolves. What kind of messed up D.N.A. did Omar have? One part of him accepted the wolf, the other didn't? How did Gus not pick up on any traces of strange activity?
Rebecca secretly hoped that the next phenomenon would be an idiot with wings, so that the boy yammering in her ear would sprout some and be picked up by the breeze.
"Wow," Rebecca tried to summon any ounce of emotion she could spare into that single word, and it still ended up flat.
"You know, Becks, I'd hate to pull you out of lala-land, but you can't just keep saying 'that's crazy' and 'great' every few minutes and call it a conversation," Rebecca's friend said. She sent him a glare.
"That's why I said 'wow' this time," Rebecca responded. Her hands were supporting her head and her legs were crossed. "Listen, Ren, it's been a long day."
"I know, I know, you're tired," Ren said, rubbing his own eyes as if her exhaustion somehow affected him. "Weird ass hybrid supernatural creatures are not going to give me warm and fuzzy dreams tonight."
"How the hell could it be a Kanima and a Werewolf?" Rebecca exclaimed, exasperation evident in her voice. She shifted, turning so she could face Ren.
"Alien invaders," Ren deadpanned. "We all know the government's being run by lizards, maybe Omar was one of them-"
"Ha ha, you comedic genius," Rebecca rolled her eyes, trying to settle into the ground once more, but soon became restless and sat up. "But seriously, even Gus hasn't heard of anything like this..."
"Yeah, yeah, all hail the ancient werewolf god," Ren said, pulling a face. "Becks, who the hell knows what he really knows. Just because he owns a bestiary doesn't mean he's the next Einstein."
"I know!" Rebecca said, picking a twig out of her braided hair. "But if we don't know anything and he also doesn't know anything, you know where that leaves us."
"In deep shit, I know." Ren's gaze wandered over to the football field where football players were laughing and tumbling, enjoying the late summer weather. "Omar was gone for a week, maybe he left town."
Rebecca had nothing to say to that. Instead, she leaned back on her hands and stared at a clump of clouds in the sky.
She was so distracted, she barely noticed when Ren placed his hand on top of hers.
Jumping a bit from the sudden movement, it took her a second to comprehend what was happening. Recovering quickly, she shoved Ren's arm away so forcibly he lost his balance and toppled over.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded. "Are you trying to read me? Seriously?"
"Becks, you're freaking me out here," Ren admitted, sitting up and rubbing his arm. "I just have to make sure that's all you're worried about-"
"Yeah? Well next time how about you ask me like a normal person instead of trying to read my mind, ass-hat," Rebecca fumed, crossing her arms. "Just because you're a half-monkey monster thing doesn't mean you can use your weird Satori powers on me, Monkey Brain!"
Ren's mouth flopped open and shut, but soon his eyebrows creased. "Don't call me that!"
Rebecca made a face at him as the school bell chimed in the distance, signalling a five minute warning until the start of last period.
Ren made a pained expression, looking at Rebecca with pleading eyes. "I hate biology."
"Well, I'm definitely not skipping with you now," Rebecca shook her head, her grin somewhat mischievous. "You're on your own to do your special monkey business."
"Are you sure?" Ren said, wiggling his eyebrows and making Rebecca clench her teeth. "Because that guy you met yesterday - Mr. Theo Raeken - is in that class with us."
Rebecca blinked and frowned. "Are you sure?"
"He sits a few seats in front of us, dumbass," Ren rolled his eyes at Rebecca. "He's the guy Kamilla won't shut up about-"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rebecca mumbled, cutting him off briskly and trudging towards the school, leaving a very confused Ren in her wake.
Sure enough, Theo Raeken was seated a few desks in front of where her and Ren sat. Ren hadn't stopped stealing glances at her ever since class began. Rebecca looked at Theo with a cocked eyebrow and an unblinking intensity.
"Hey, I know he was an idiot and nearly crushed your car, but if you keep staring like that, he'll get a restraining order against you," Ren hissed, hiding behind his propped up book, every now and then taking a peak at Theo as well.
"There's something not right about him," Rebecca sighed, picking up the worksheet in front of her and reading it numbly. "Why was he rushing around the night of a murder? Why don't I know about him at all? Is he new?"
"New as in came at the beginning of the school year just like everybody else, then yes," Ren replied, tapping his fingers against the textbook he held in front of his face. "As for the rest, how the hell should I know? I haven't talked to him. But it is weird how quickly he got Kamilla wrapped around his finger."
Rebecca, her brown eyes just peaking over the sheet, looked at the girl sitting beside Theo Raeken, currently smiling and making jokes about the assignment they were doing.
"Oh my God, it's like they're in love!" Rebecca fake gagged as Ren snickered. "Looks like Casonova can talk better than he can drive."
Ren stopped mid laugh. Rebecca, who was writing her name at the top of the sheet, looked at him. He paled and buried his face in his book. Out of the corner of his mouth, he whispered: "Oh my God, he's looking."
Rebecca turned back to her sheet too quickly. Sure enough, she could feel someone's eyes on her. Filling in the blank to the question she was on, she read halfway through the next one before the sound of a scraping chair earned her attention.
She looked up, and saw no one other than Theo Raeken pull up a chair to her and Ren's joined desks. Rebecca's pencil fell from her now limp hand. Theo sat down and put his hands on the desk with an expression that was a cross between triumphant and contentious.
"Hey, um, Rebecca?" Theo said, pointing at Rebecca when he said her name, his mouth quirking up in greeting. She offered a weak smile. His eyebrows furrowed slightly when Ren didn't acknowledge him. "And, uh, friend of Rebecca." He quickly turned his gaze back to Rebecca. "What are you guys talking about?"
Rebecca cocked her head ever so slightly, picking up her pencil as defiantly as she could. He came over just to call them out. Sure, he had done nothing wrong, but Rebecca wouldn't bend at the knee because he confronted them.
"This is Ren," Rebecca shrugged, jerking her thumb at the boy next to her. Cool and casual. "We were-"
Ren slammed his book onto the desk, looked Theo in the eye and said: "We were just talking about how you nearly killed Rebecca last night."
Rebecca's face flushed red as most of the class glanced at their table. She closed her eyes as Ren and Theo stared at each other. Theo was taken aback by the scene Ren had made, but Ren stood by it, unwavering.
"It was an accident," Theo finally said. His palms were skyward, as if that made him seem more innocent. His voice was low to douse the fire in Ren's eyes. "I didn't even see her."
Rebecca finally opened her eyes, her blush faded to a dull pink as the teacher glared at them. Ren looked ready to jump out of his seat and swing a punch. Rebecca's hand was pressing against his arm in a second. Despite being on the scrawny side, Rebecca didn't underestimate his bloodthirsty expression.
She turned to Theo, who looked scared. Not scared in the way that he feared for his safety, but scared in the way that he had no idea what kind of drugs Ren had been overdosing on lately. Ren was medication free, but suffered from severe overreacting-at-every-little-situation disorder, and it had wound up in a trip to the principal's office more than once in his lifetime.
Not to mention got on Rebecca's nerves.
"Sorry, he gets worried," Rebecca said. "It was an accident, I know that. No one got hurt, so I think we should just let it go."
At the last part, she turned back to Ren and nodded along with her words. Ren shook his arm free and looked at Theo with a final glare.
"Sounds good to me," Theo agreed.
"Sure. Where were you going in such a hurry yesterday then, Theo?" Ren asked. Rebecca elbowed him in the ribs with an irritated expression. He yelped and whispered, "What? It's not like you didn't want to know."
"That's rude, Ren," Rebecca hissed. She took a deep breath and shook her head slightly at Theo. "You don't have to answer. Ren's a bit insensitive."
"Nah, it's fine," Theo said, glancing at Rebecca before looking back at Ren. "I was on my way to the hospital, my mom had just been sent in for having a heart attack."
Ren raised his eyebrows, but even he cowed a bit. That seemed like a legitimate enough reason. Rebecca immediately softened, but when Theo's gaze drifted to the desk she put her guard back up. He seemed too eager to share and get their sympathy. Ren didn't seem to notice.
"I'm, " Rebecca swallowed, trying not to sound suspicious. "I'm really sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, well," Theo shrugged, looking back up at her. The sadness in his eyes seemed as real as the sympathy in Rebecca's. "She's not in critical condition, so I guess me and my dad will just have to wait and see."
T.M.I, she almost said. It would be so easy to expose him were he sat, but Rebecca bit the inside of her cheek and looked away. Theo Raeken was hiding something else, she could tell. Rebecca nearly missed the way he silently studied her, but when Rebecca glanced his way, his eyes were a millisecond too slow in looking away.
It felt strange, as if her and Theo were putting on some sort of civil show for Ren. Rebecca knew Theo was withholding something, and Theo now knew that Rebecca was on to him. She tried to keep her emotions steady so she wouldn't seem too guilty.
The people around them were packing up, and Rebecca looked at the clock, noticing that class was going to be over soon. Trying to hide her relief, she had an excuse to shut down the tense conversation before it dwindled for too long.
Theo had started to stand, opening his mouth for a goodbye when Ren, who already had stood, suddenly reached across the table, ready to grab any exposed skin Theo had.
Rebecca, still sitting, swatted Ren's hand away, and they proceeded to glare at each other. "Nice seeing you, Theo," Rebecca said, her gaze on Ren unwavering. Theo retreated back to his desk without another word.
"Would you learn to control yourself for three seconds!" Rebecca snarled at her friend, standing so she could tower over the shorter boy. She continued, but quietly so no one would overhear them. "I get that you don't trust him, neither do I. But that doesn't mean you can get away with casually caressing his arm in public."
Ren opened his mouth, ready to retort, but his face suddenly went blank. He shouldered his bag and squared his shoulders.
The bell rang and she looked over to see what Ren was glaring at; Theo Raeken, with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Theo asked, making Rebecca's heart sink.
"Um, actually, can this wait? Ren's got to be somewhere right after school and I'm his ride, so," Rebecca said, lying through her teeth.
"Okay, well, I'll just talk while we walk, then," Theo said, seeming pleased.
"Oh, goodie," Ren said. Theo's expression wavered.
"Actually, uh," Theo said with a half-smile. "I was kinda hoping to talk to her alone."
"That's nice," Ren said, making no move to leave.
Rebecca sighed. "It's cool, Ren."
Ren narrowed his eyes, but after a few seconds of silent conversation, he huffed and stormed out of the room. Rebecca watched him go, rolling her eyes.
"Uh, is he okay?" Theo asked, moving to stand beside her.
"No," Rebecca said with a tempered smile. "But yes."
"Right," Theo said.
Rebecca slung her backpack over one shoulder and started for the exit. Most of the class had already filtered out by this point.
"So, you know, since now you know why I was out and about last night," Theo started from somewhere behind her. "I suppose it would be fair for me to know why you were as well."
Rebecca stopped walking in the doorway and turned to give Theo a look. "Why?"
He caught up with her and stopped when they were face to face. She had to crane her head up a bit since he was a few inches taller than her. He sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world: "Because someone was murdered last night. It was all over the news, no way you could have missed it."
"And, what?" Rebecca asked. "You think I'm the murderer?"
Theo let out a laugh, just as sarcastic as the one he used last night. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it."
"So," Rebecca said, eyebrows furrowed. She walked backwards into the near-empty hallway. "Now you're, 'Theo Raeken, super secret detective'?"
Theo smirked. "It's just kind of a weird coincidence." Rebecca made a noncommittal noise at the back of her throat. "And if you do know anything, well, I want to be ready for it."
"Ready?" Rebecca echoed.
"You know, I heard everything you and Ren were saying," Theo admitted, making Rebecca's heart skip a beat. "And you're right. I am new, I moved here in August. It's just a bit overwhelming for me to adjust to a new town, a new school, new people, when there's a murderer running around killing people. So I just ... want to be ready."
Out of all the things Theo had said to her in the short time they'd been acquainted, he had finally said something that didn't make Rebecca question her safety or make her suspicious. In truth, the new potential murderer terrified her as well.
Rebecca looked at him before they descended down a short flight of stairs, and he looked back, giving her a seemingly innocent look. He bit his bottom lip.
Rebecca knew she wouldn't be able to ignore such a request. "Yeah, actually. I was there."
Rebecca was thankful Theo only gestured for her to continue and didn't ask why. She wanted to give him as little information as possible.
"I didn't actually see the body, but I heard that it was bloody. And, the weirdest part, is that there was mercury dripping out of almost every orifice," said Rebecca. They reached the bottom step and the exit was now in sight.
"What about those rumors? About the, um," Theo looked behind her in case anyone was listening. Although no one was, he leaned into her slightly anyway. "The claws attached to the body?"
Rebecca gave him a grim expression, but it was obvious he'd believe the rumors if they were true or not, so she decided to humor him. "There were definitely claws, but I heard some officers say it was probably just someone gluing on claws to the victims fingernails to make them seem more, you know, scary. Or whatever."
Her tone sounded reluctant, and bored, as if it wasn't something to make a fuss about. She didn't feel like giving him the 'supernatural creatures are actually real' talk.
"That's-" Theo searched for the right word. Rebecca looked at him with a cocked brow, ready for whatever was about to come out of his mouth. "Strange."
Rebecca nearly laughed. She would have used 'disgusting', 'inhumane', even 'gross', but 'strange' worked well enough.
"It certainly is," Rebecca nodded, giving him a sympathetic smile. There was something sketchy about this Raeken kid, but he seemed as naïve as anyone. Until he spoke again.
"It's kind of like those stories of werewolves and stuff, isn't it?"
In her mind, alarm bells were going off like crazy. Her expression, however showed disbelieving humor, as if he had just told a really bad joke. "Yeah, sure. Werwolves."
She chuckled a bit. The stare he had fixed on her was analyzing and it made her nervous. Theo knew something, and he wanted to know if she did as well. What he didn't know was that Rebecca had been hiding that secret for years and was used to lying about it so blatantly.
She looked up at Theo, still acting clueless. She noticed his face didn't hold any humor and her expression fell.
"You're serious?" Rebecca inquired, incredulously. "You think there are werewolves running around? Where the hell did you come from?"
Rebecca noticed how Theo struggled to regain his composure. He had bought her act. She resisted the urge to laugh. "No, I'm just saying, it's like werewolves."
"I'll remember that, Theo Raeken," Rebecca said, walking backwards and opening the exit with her backpack so he could see the amused expression on her face. "The Werewolf Detective."
Theo gave her one last questionable smile before turning and going the other direction. As soon as she was out of the building, her face dropped. Who the hell was this kid?
